fluke
by gryffindormischief
Summary: Loosely follows: "I sent a selfie of myself in the tub to the wrong number and you responded back with another selfie. Holy shit you are really attractive"


prompt from tumblr! I am going to continue ecchymosis, no worries xD just wanted to get some of the prompts done before I keep going with that one...plus I got an idea for this...I hope you like it!

* * *

Hermione's been on Ginny's case about relaxing – really rich coming from Miss Workaholic herself – which is a little bit of a wake-up call despite the bit of hypocrisy. Because if _Hermione Granger_ actually tells you to relax, it must be pretty bad.

So Ginny resolves at the beginning of the week that her first night she's awake enough when she gets home to not pass out immediately after dinner, she will take a relaxing bath with the bubbles and various other accouterments that Fleur gave her last Christmas.

So on Saturday, after a long but slightly less grueling practice, Ginny eats some of the leftovers Molly had loaded her down with at dinner on Wednesday and then goes about preparing a relaxing evening for herself. It really was a happy accident that today happened to be the day she was most awake and tomorrow was her first free morning in weeks. Gwenog had taken pity on them – or maybe she just had a hot brunch date – and cancelled practice for the morning, only scheduling some team meetings and other 'housekeeping' for the late afternoon.

Which means Ginny can relax as long as she likes and sleep until the sun's actually _risen_. As she twists the taps on in the bath and steam rises in the air, Ginny pours perhaps a bit too much bubble bath into the water and watches as the suds rise, filling the bathroom with the calming scents of lavender and vanilla.

While she waits for the water to rise, Ginny putters about her flat, tracking down scented candles that won't clash and finding her coziest socks and dressing gown for her eventual exit from the bath.

After tying her hair up loosely, Ginny strips down to nothing, tossing the pile of dirty sweats into her hamper messily and slips into the water.

Before she gets too relaxed, Ginny reaches for her mobile – carefully enclosed in a Ziploc bag so as to avoid a panicked trip to the phone store – and takes a slightly blurry selfie in SnapChat to send Hermione with the caption _finally relaxing shut up_.

Then, Ginny adjusts the hand towel rolled behind her neck and grabs the paperback she'd saved for just such an occasion and cracks the spine, letting the words take her away while the heat leeches the tension from her muscles.

A few chapters in, Ginny pauses to sip her wine and check for a response from Hermione, swiping to open the notification with a bit of difficulty through the plastic, only to realize she most definitely did _not_ send her naked selfie to her brother's girlfriend.

Right at the top of her notifications is an unopened snap from Harry Potter, her last snap to Hermione sent days ago. Her heart thuds in her chest and Ginny wants to sink beneath the water and never come out, living her life as a bog monster beneath the lukewarm water.

It's not _as_ bad as it could be – the selfie hadn't been _truly_ naked. All her most private bits were strategically covered and whatnot, but she was very obviously naked and she certainly wasn't on sultry candlelit selfie terms with Harry, hadn't even _seen_ him in a month. Not since he'd picked up a new homicide case at the same time her season got rolling. He was around, and so was she, but they never seemed to converge on the Burrow at coinciding times. Ships passing in the night and all that shite. Except, only if those ships _almost almost_ dated in the middle of A-Levels and then lived in awkward disregard of whatever tension was leftover since.

And now she'd broken that mutual silence on the subject by sending a nude – and Harry'd answered. There's not really a guidebook for it, so she's not sure how quickly this type of exchange (when intentional) will escalate to _actually_ showing bits. Harry doesn't _seem_ one for unsolicited dick pics – but this could have seemed like a solicitation and now she might have a picture of Harry's…

Growling, Ginny adjusts with some splashing and sits up fully, blowing out a deep breath and steeling herself to open the… _video_ in one, two, three –

It's Teddy, splashing in the bath with enough toys to almost cover the water surface and a caption that reads _must be bath night_ _:)_

And Ginny's initial reaction is relief, because Harry apparently decided to just play this off as normal and _not_ sending a naked selfie – until she starts thinking about it too much and her mind goes hyperactive. Does he not want to see her kinda naked? Is this a nice way to blow her off?

Not that she was _trying_ to get him at all.

The picture was for Hermione.

And she had been taking it goofily. It's not like she'd turned on her sultry powers.

So maybe he –

Ginny growls again and sloshes out of the tub, drying herself cursorily and tugs on her dressing gown, thoroughly _unrelaxed_ and aiming her anger at the only person she can think of other than herself as she presses Hermione's name in her favorite contacts list.

Before Hermione does more than utter a confused 'hello' Ginny's grumbles, "I'm never taking your advice again."

"Hello to you too, Ginny," Hermione answers, an obnoxious smirk evident in her voice.

"You ruined my life and now I _know_ Harry doesn't want to see me naked," Ginny blurts, violently rubbing her hair to damp from dripping and tossing the used towel haphazardly toward her other dirty laundry.

Hermione laughs, "As I pause to assure you my phone is _not_ on speaker…"

"Why the bloody hell would I assume your phone was on speaker?"

"I multitask," Hermione answers simply, the sound of shuffling papers and clacking keys in the background.

"Can we make it a rule that the default assumption is no speakerphone?" Ginny drawls, a teasing lilt to her voice.

Hermione sighs, longsuffering, "So why doesn't Harry want to see you naked? I'm sure you're quite aesthetically pleasing. Aside from your sports, Weasleys are naturally very – "

"Please end your sentence there so I don't have to bleach my brain," Ginny interrupts tensely, poking around in her chest of drawers for her most comfortable sweats and t-shirt.

"Don't be melodramatic, Ginny."

Switching the phone to speaker, Ginny drops her robe and starts tugging on her lay about clothes. "That's my _brother_ you're talking about."

Another sigh, but Hermione humors her, " _Anyway_ , the point of your call."

"I sent you a selfie from the bath."

"I didn't get it."

"I know."

"Well – oh. Harry," Hermione pieces together.

"Yes."

Hermione hums, thoughtfully, not like Ginny's just dropped the atom bomb of friendship faux pas. "And he went radio silent?"

Ginny pulls on her fluffiest socks and drops back on the bed dramatically, pressing the phone to her ear, "Our norm is radio silence Hermione, but no he answered. With a video of his godson in the bath like he equates me naked in the bath with a toddler naked in the bath. Like he didn't want to see me naked!"

The sound of papers rustling stops and Hermione yelps, " _You_ didn't want him to see you naked."

"Well not – I may not have _intended_. Ron's not hearing this is he?"

"He's off doing something I'd rather not know about with Charlie and George," Hermione answers, absent, then addresses the more pressing issue with her full attention, "So leaving aside the actual result, what were you hoping for when you realized you'd sent it to Harry and not me?"

"I – " Ginny's sentence drops off.

There's silence for a moment until Hermione does one of her thoughtful hums, "Maybe Harry wasn't sure it was on purpose – which it wasn't I might add – so he's respecting your feelings. Or maybe he knows this is unusual for you two and is playing it off as fun because he's confused."

"Maybe."

"There are a lot of options other than 'Harry thinks I'm a homunculus,' Ginny," Hermione says, placating like she's talking to a child.

"I never said that," Ginny says, and feels the pout on her face. _If she's going to treat me like a child…_

"Not in so many words you didn't," Hermione answers, prim, while Ginny rises and pads toward the kitchen.

Ginny sighs and rolls her eyes, putting the kettle on and grabbing her favored mug – made by Victoire and Teddy together one messy afternoon at the Burrow, and drops a bag of tea in the empty vessel.

It's quiet for a bit, comfortable while the steady ticking of Hermione's fingers on keys and Ginny's restless fidgeting. "What do I do now?"

"Well, It's a bit early for bed, but you were up at – "

Growling, Ginny pulls the screaming kettle off the stove and pours a healthy serving into her mug. "I mean about _Harry_."

Hermione snorts, but complies with Ginny's steering of the conversation, "You two are friends Ginny, what do you normally talk about?"

"We haven't talked in almost a month," Ginny answers, quiet as she fiddles with the string on her teabag.

Hermione does another one of her knowing hums, but Ginny's distracted by a vibration from her phone and sees she's got another message from Harry. She nearly fumbles the phone, hands shaking nervously, but manages to keep her hold. "He's sent something else."

"Alright. Well you should go handle that then," Hermione answers, and before Ginny can say anything, she continues, "Just be yourself, Gin. Trust me."

With a sigh, Ginny disconnects the phone and taps the SnapChat notification before she can second-guess.

It's a direct message this time – _thought you'd rather see Ted being adorable than my gangly self_

 _But I wanted to reciprocate somehow :P_

Ginny stares at the message for a little too long, eyes going hazy while she thinks of and discards about seven _adult_ responses. Shaking herself, Ginny grabs a tin of biscuits and slumps on the couch with her milky tea.

 _Teddy bear looks like he's grown a hand_

Harry answers quickly, _a hand?_

 _That's not for bears, just horses_

Snorting, Ginny takes a crumbly bite of her biscuit and snuggles back into the cushions. _I didn't realize you were an expert in animal terminology_

 _I didn't realize you weren't_

Ginny's about to answer with a sassy comeback of her own when he sends another message quickly, an actual text rather than the temporary SnapChat messaging.

 _Is it alright if we move over here?_

And somehow after that – maybe it's the wine finally working its way through her bloodstream, or the mint tea, or maybe its just the familiar ebb and flow of talking to Harry – she's relaxed. Calm, and feeling more right with the world than she has in a long time, Ginny's chest warms happily when Harry sends another photo – this time Teddy's eyes are drooping and his head is pillowed on Harry's lanky chest as they watch something on the telly.

They pause their conversation when Teddy's bedtime – long since past – becomes necessary as the young Lupin begins well and truly falling asleep. Ginny puts in a request to pass along her goodnight, and Teddy commissions a SnapChat video where he sends sleepy kisses and says he misses "Gin-Gin."

And Ginny almost misses the way Harry's green eyes soften at her name.

But even if she had, when Harry resumes their texting, he ends up being a lot more up front than sixteen-year-old Harry ever was. _I've missed you too, by the way_

 _Gwenog and Alastor seem bent on keeping us apart_

 _Tragedy that. :)_

 _Until tonight_

Ginny's heart thuds. _Right_.

 _So I did want to ask something_

And up until this point, Ginny had mostly forgotten how this reconnection had managed to be prompted, floating along as she was on their comfortable banter and that longing look in Harry's eye. But now, she's fully refreshed and isn't likely to ever forget, stomach clenching as the three dots in flashing on her screen taunt her.

Until she can't take it anymore and in a peak fit of bravery, decides to actually _call_ Harry and hash this out on the phone. Where he can hear her nervous breakdown in real time.

As soon as Harry's voice sounds, low and a bit gravely, on the line with a slightly bemused tone, Ginny blurts, " _I'msorryIsentyouanude_."

He laughs, quiet but full and she hears a door clicking shut before he speaks, almost normal volume now, "It wasn't exactly a nude, Gin."

Ignoring the flush that rises on her cheeks when he murmurs _Gin_ like that, she pouts a bit. "Mostly was."

"And it wasn't offensive."

"Music to a girl's ears, that."

Harry laughs again, warm and rich, "You know what I mean."

Dropping back on the couch and nudging her lukewarm tea further onto the table with her toe, Ginny lets her eyes drop closed and sighs, "Well in the name of full disclosure, it wasn't supposed to go to you – not sure how you'll take that."

He hums thoughtfully. "I did think it was a bit of an unusual way to make contact after thirty-eight days."

"Counting?" Ginny asks, teasing, and a bit hopeful.

It seems a good thing when he doesn't hedge at all, something like bedsprings creaking in the background, "Charlie's last visit home from the reserve – we wandered out in the back garden, just you and me."

Ginny hums, and can't help but note the wistful way Harry described that night. They'd really come close to – _something._ She'd kicked herself for a week for not just damning it all to hell and snogging him against a tree. But then she'd been pretty well distracted by training and things just went back to status quo.

"Not bad though," Harry says finally, breaking her musings.

"What?"

Harry clears his throat, "Unusual – the picture. But."

Ginny laughs a little and leans forward to take a sip of her tea, "Go on."

"I'd like to see in person."

Ginny chokes on her mouthful and Harry starts spluttering like she hasn't heard since he and Ron got caught trying to hotwire Mr. Potter's car to go joyriding.

"I didn't – I meant see _you_ like a date – not – well _eventually_ that "

" _Harry_!"

He's quiet for a minute, and she lets him have the time to gather himself. Which he eventually does, almost whispering, "Yes?"

 _Bull by the horns, Weasley_. "When's your next night off where you're not watching Teddy?"

There's a full-blown smile evident in his voice and Ginny's face splits in a matching one as he answers, "Not soon enough."


End file.
